In My Perfect Life (Update from 10-year-old post)

I was going through my blog posts and found this entry about visions of the future. How amazing! In that post, I answered questions about how a perfect life would look like for me. While reading my answers, I find myself grinning from ear to ear and my heart is so overwhelmed. I am so glad I got this documented because, really, the biggest purpose of keeping this journal is to relive moments and feelings of the past that my thoughts cannot hold on forever. 

From March 2010 

In your perfect life:

-where would you live?
-what kind of people would you like to spend time with?

-how would you spend your time, if you could be doing anything you wanted?

-what would you eat? wear? have?

-would you work? If so, what would you do? If not, what would you do?

-what do you want to learn? to know? to be?

-where would you like to take a vacation? What would you do?

And here are my answers :)

- I still don't have a particular place in mind but I would always dream of having a house at somewhere rural where fresh air and green fields and blue skies are everywhere. It would be some kinda rest house where i could go to during weekends because I still want to work in a city proper. Thus, I want to have two houses :)

- I will be spending so much time with my parents and siblings. During weekends, we'll have lunch together with our own families. I want my children to see my parents often. I'll have regular chit-chats with my lifetime girlfriends about life, family, and business.

- I'm a woman who wants to do so much. So in my perfect life, I would be working as a teacher, a statistician for graduate studies and even at a corporate world (that's just once in a while and when my kids are already in school), having a bakeshop or a restaurant. And when at home, I'll be having a vegetable garden, I'll be a hands-on wife and mom even up to preparing my husband's and kids' baon. I'll be sewing my curtains, bedsheets and pillowcases. :)

- I'm not so much of a meat eater. And I hope in few years, I can eliminate meat and just be a fan of fishes and veggies. I would want to design and sew my own clothes. I want to have my own car so I can go anywhere and take my loved ones for joyrides. (This one is a secret revealed: My wildest dream is to own a resort here in General Santos City. One that would be a family sanctuary.)

- I still want to work. I still want to teach part time. I really want to manage a resort. It seems to be a very fulfilling job, developing a beautiful place for people's memorable moments.

- I want to enhance my cooking skills. I've enrolled in cooking lessons before and I want more! I want to know more about managing a household because I want to be a loving wife and mother of 2 kids.

- I want me and my husband-to-be to travel often. And when we'll have our two kids, we'll take vacations twice a year. Visits to my mother's hometown in Capiz and visits to my in-laws, as well because it's always fulfilling to reconnect with my roots. We'll go to different places everytime and try every adventure. :)

Ten years later, I still have the same answers to these questions! And the best part, I am living my almost perfect life already! How great is the Almighty!

• I am currently living 20 minutes away from the city I was born and raised in. One of my dreams was to live outside of the city and although I am not that far it (and this municipality is working to be a city itself), the dream still came true. :) And I love it here. The climate, the proximity to the public market (which I love to frequent to because of the fresh local produce), the community, the potential of the place, the everything! And this is where our future home will rise. This is where I see my old retired self gardening, reading, hosting intimate gatherings. 
• I love family gatherings! And weekend lunches had been happening until the corona virus happened. We are in different areas as of the moment and have not seen each other for four months but keeping updates via group chat. I had to work on the chitchats with girlfriends part. 
• I am still a teacher but the statistician part is not happening anymore, found another path :) The wife part, well, this has been my greatest joy since seven months ago. :) Marriage deserves a post on its own. The baon part was so specific from that ten-year-old post that I think it had become a part of my subconscious because I am so winning on this part. Ha! I am loving being a homemaker. I knew this would be fun but never thought it would feel this good. I should really dedicate another post for this. 
• I am still not a vegan or a vegetarian. Ha! But I have learned to watch what I eat. I think that's what age does to a person. One becomes a more mindful eater, especially now that I am the one deciding on our meal plans. I am the picky eater in this household so he gives me the power over the food choices. This involves a lot of fresh juices, smoothies, herbal teas, fish dishes, soups, etc. I have sewn my own clothes few years back and I am thinking of doing it again. The car part, working on it. The wildest dream part is still a dream and not yet working on it but putting that out to the universe. :)
• Nothing much has changed here. :)
• The cooking skills have greatly improved! I vividly remember my purpose of enrolling in TESDA's hot kitchen cooking and baking classes in 2009. I so wanted to earn the cooking skills to prepare myself for wife duties. A decade after, here we are. Happy to report that the skills have been put to practice excellently. This claim can be supported by the beneficiary with  indisputable evidence. :)
• The Capiz dream with the husband almost happened in April. It was supposed to be a big family reunion but again the corona virus happened. We feel the same about traveling and exploring places so let's see. For now, I am grateful for the other things in between. The dreams I have never dreamed for myself. The experiences beyond my limited imagination but have been planned for me by the Almighty. All praises and thanksgiving!

This has been fun. It truly is amazing how we are lead to the desires of our hearts. That whatever decisions we make along the way, we would eventually be where we are supposed to be. 

Happy Birthday, Laiza girl! 2020 Edition :)

Laiza girl, I wish you the best in life. Many may have wished you the same especially today but I think that statement means differently and with deep sincerity from someone who has seen it all, who has been through it (almost) all with you. I met you in your Laiza Version 0.0, I guess, then naging Version 1.0 tapos the Version 2.0. Pang-ilang version mo na ikaw kaya? :) Kidding aside, I truly believe that you deserve all the best in life because of your heart. 

We go waaayyy back and I have seen you blossom. (Wow parang debut!) From the outside you may seem to have it all together and to have figured out everything in life because you handle things quite wonderfully. I am amazed of how several things (a.k.a responsibilities) you can handle at a time, without a pause, rarely complaining about being tired and even while you are at the stage of whining about how you just wanted to give up at times, you also think about how to snap out of whatever that difficulty you are in.

The goodness of your heart has evolved. I have always known how you unconditionally give for others -  your family, your friends, even complete strangers. But now, you give better to other people because you have learned to give to yourself first. I am happy and most proud about that because that is the hardest lesson to learn.

You now have everything you have prayed for and I know there are more dreams about to come true. Your hardwork and genuine intentions will be rewarded by the universe! Keep the faith. I pray for your heart's contentment and fulfillment everyday of your life. 

I love you dearly, every version of you. :) 

To the maid of my honor, ayyy... Maid of Honor diay, happiest birthday!

P.S. Posting this deleted speech from my wedding for my maid of honor. :)

To Laiza, my beautiful maid of honor, who has flown from Manila only for my wedding because we promised to be there on each other’s wedding, who was more excited than I was when I told her I was getting married because I was having wedding jitters, who searched Divisoria several times for her perfect dress, who gave me my dream wedding shoes but so much prettier than I dreamed it to be, who thought of getting me the gold robe just so pretty kami sa pictures. You are the sweetest, most generous, most thoughtful maid of honor ever! Better than I was with Ate My. Laiza has seen it all, she has witnessed the ups and downs of my adult life and knows the most about me and Drew. She was very supportive and always excited to hear wonderful stories, to listen to sad stories, to give sane advice when I was not being rational, the first one to know what’s happening in my life. When everyone else is asking about school, work, she would just ask if I were ok. And if I wouldn’t reply for days, she would send another message “ok ka lang besh? Kumusta na ang buhay natin dyan besh?” She would continuously but tirelessly make kulit until she gets an answer that I was ok. And just waits for me to spill the beans. Hindi talaga ako makwento na tao but sa kanya nasasabi ko talaga lahat... Like she knows everything. Haha. She  has this certain honesty in herself that would make me open up, too. Haay... Laiza girl. You are one precious person. And I am excited for you, too. I love you!!